BANKING NEWS
44%
Only
of customers say their
bank currently adapts products and
services to meet their needs
about fees is customers’ most sought-after improvement. People
are more willing than ever to shop around and want control over
what they pay for the service they receive. Banks need to respond –
pricing and service promises need to be transparent if banks are to
deliver something customers value.’
The customer voice is growing in strength, amplified by
increasing social media use. Banks have made progress in improving
their communication channels. Both call centre and mobile banking
services have improved, with customer satisfaction up by 8% and
16% respectively year on year, however, the power of the consumer
voice has overtaken banks communication channels. Personal
recommendations from family and friends are the top source of
information about banking products, with 71% of consumers relying
on this information as their primary source. Fifty five percent of
consumers refer to online communities or social networks for advice
and a third of customers who use social networking use it to actively
comment on the service they receive from their bank.
‘Customers prefer turning to other sources than their bank for
financial advice and to find the best deals. Comparison websites,
relatively unknown five years ago, are now the second major source
of influence, ranking higher than banking advisors, and the use
of social media as a source of banking information is amplifying
customers’ voices, giving them greater power as advocates or
critics,’ concludes Pierre.
SOUTH AFRICA
‘Across the world we are seeing consistent themes with customers
taking control, concerned about how they are engaging with banks
across the life cycle. We are seeing high upmarket loyalty, especially
in the South African context,’ Colin Daley, Associate Director of
Advisory Services for Ernst & Young, said on Summit TV. ‘We are
seeing customers who are willing to be self-serviced and will engage
with banks directly using the internet for transactions. If we look at
South Africa, for instance, 91% of customers say they are willing to
provide their banks with information and be involved in developing
products and services. That’s a huge change.’
Of the customers in South Africa who have switched banks, 70%
cited high fees or charges as the main factor, the survey reported.
Thirteen percent of customers in South Africa are planning to
switch banks. Daley says ironically banks in South Africa are quite
forthcoming with information around fee structures and how
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THE BANKER
Edition 3
customers are charged, but 63% of South African customers are
still citing clarity around fees as the top intervention for banks to
improve customer satisfaction service. He said that in interactions
with some of the South African banks, the banks felt that they were
doing all they can in this area. However, customers are still not
satisfied.
The Ernst & Young survey shows that 39% of customers are using
only one bank, compared with 11% in 2011. Among those who multibank, 29% are looking for the best rates or fees for each product.
Daley says that customers are doing their own research more and
more and the phenomenon of “omnichannel” strategies is important
for banks to embrace.
He explains that omnichannel focus refers to customers wanting
to be able to engage with their banks through different channels –
be it social media, physical structures such as branches or over the
telephone. And they want all these channels to be integrated so that
one query on one channel can be followed up using another channel.
The study also found that new emerging players are increasingly
encroaching on the large banks’ markets, often focusing on lowincome earners where revenue growth is highest. Two other factors
coming out of the study are that South African customers place more
importance on loyalty programmes and they are active in the social